


False Timing

by Skeren



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Captivity, Chimeras, Human Experimentation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 21:39:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5759812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy didn't know what he was putting at risk by associating with Tucker without an escort. He'd come to regret that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written April 2005-January 2006

He made a habit of stopping by to talk to Shou when the chance presented itself. Mostly it was a case of annoying Gran, who he rather despised, by freely associating with his subordinate, but he was sure that the Sewing Life Alchemist didn’t realize this. Even if he had the rare conversations with the slightly deranged man, he really preferred to visit Nina. She was stable, and he had taken her under his wing as a niece of sorts over the last few months he’d been in the city. He was going to be heading out of town in the morning, so he’d come by to let Nina know that he wouldn’t be taking her out to lunch while her dad was doing research the next Monday. 

When the door was answered, he wasn’t sure whether to be pleased that Tucker had pulled himself out of his studies for once, or annoyed that he had done so. On the one hand, Nina would be happy and supervised for once. On the other, he hadn’t really wanted to talk to the man. Shaking off the thought, he gave him a cool smile. “Tucker.”

“Lieutenant-Colonel Mustang.” The blue-eyed man tilted his head, a slightly puzzled look crossing his face. “You’re here a bit late to visit, aren’t you? Besides, you usually don’t come around on the weekends.”

Stepping inside as the pale man moved out of the way, the dark-eyed alchemist looked around, finding no sign of the little girl. “I’m leaving town in the morning actually, so I came to tell Nina I wasn’t going to be visiting for a while.”

The blue-eyed man tilted his head in a way that made his glasses reflect, then nodded slowly. “I see. Going out on assignment then?”

The Flame Alchemist blinked a few times before he gave him a considering look. “No, actually, I just have some leave coming up and there are some things that I’m going to be taking care of while I’m on it.”

Again with that odd head tilt, and a small, slow smile crossed Tucker’s face. “When did you say you were leaving again?” He moved forward, slipping behind Roy to close the door securely. 

An uneasy feeling ran down his spine with the question. “I didn’t.” He turned, but he wasn’t quick enough, getting knocked upside the head rather harshly before he could gather himself for the attack. A second blow quickly followed the first, and the younger alchemist’s eyes rolled back in his head as he crumpled to the floor.

“Really, I’m not foolish enough to think you’d be back.” Tucker sighed, shaking his head over the necessity as he put the umbrella back in the stand by the door. Leaning over the prone form on his floor, he checked his pockets, looking for some sort of information on where the man might have been headed.

He was satisfied when he found the ticket to Rizenbul, the five o’clock train. Nobody would even know he was missing. All for the better. With that out of the way, he addressed the dilemma of getting the man out of his front room.


	2. Chapter 1

The letter that had dropped out of the coat when he’d taken it off the darker alchemist had made him reconsider his possibilities before he’d even settled on a course of action. It was clearly from a man, the words indicating that he was looking for someone, and overall it gave the impression that Roy had been headed to something of a rendezvous.

Considering how he’d come to view the younger man, that was utterly unacceptable. 

It was easily fixed, however. It seemed that the person he was going to see wasn’t expecting him specifically, so that meant that he had time before anyone realized he wasn’t there. That was long enough to carry through with the idea that had been lurking in the back of his mind for the last month. 

The exam was coming up soon, and that meant that he needed to provide something this year. He really hated the idea that he might have been out of options… but it was fixable. All mistakes were fixable.

Now, he was almost certain he’d put the injured fox that Nina had brought home down in the basement.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When Roy woke, he knew something was wrong. He didn’t have to move from his position to realize that. A dull throb pulsed just under his skin, not quite painful, but not exactly comfortable either. After a few moments, he shifted a little, causing a sneeze when his hair tickled his nose.

That didn’t really make sense though, he didn’t have long hair. He cracked his eyes open, taking a deep breath, and he nearly gagged on the strong smell of chemicals that permeated what could only be the basement, which he was looking at through the bars of a cage. 

He couldn’t fathom for a few long moments why he’d be in a cage, but it slowly came back to him as he opened his eyes a little further, confused when he realized there was no apparent light source that was allowing him to see. The entire room was in shades of black, white, and gray, array after array pinned to the walls, and a slightly smudged circle lay not far from where he was. 

And icy chill swept through the alchemist as he felt a niggling sense of unease, one that was slightly too feral to be the one he’d always relied on, rushed through his senses. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm the rising flare of panic. He thought he heard something, and his ears twitched a bit as though to swivel in that direction.

That had his eyes flying open again. He didn’t want the things that he was finding out about himself to connect into that frightening picture. He didn’t want to even consider the possibility. He was in the Sewing Life Alchemist’s home. That was enough to quash any hopes. The man always had been far too unstable…

Taking another deep breath, he turned his eyes on himself, ignoring the voice in his head that was noting on the fact that he was seeing in the dark. The first thing he saw was fur. Some dark shade with white over his stomach. He moved his hand to touch his stomach, unwilling to move his eyes away from that spot, to know what else had been added, but the action caused him to see.

His hand wasn’t quite the same, white fur covered his fingers and up to his mid-forearm. At first, with his fingers curled, it seemed like there was nothing wrong. Shaking slightly, he turned his hand over, and he shuddered a little at the sight of the sharp looking black claws that replaced where his nails had been before, but he nearly cried when he realized that his hand was completely ruined. His fingers were still in perfect shape, aside from the additions, but his thumb… it was higher up on his arm, tipped in a claw like all the others. It wasn’t where it should be, placed just above his wrist, a third the size as it should have been. Jerking his other hand forward, he saw that they were the same.

He was terrified to see what else had been done to him while he’d been unconscious.


	3. Chapter 2

The morning was a mess of activity. He’d acted hastily, thinking that of course if the man was going off on a private matter that he would be going alone. It hadn’t ever occurred to him that he wouldn’t be, or that one of his subordinates might come around to his usual haunts looking for him.

Thankfully, his precious daughter had saved him from needing to worry about the blond woman that had come to the door. In typical fashion, she’d tossed it open before asking who was there, peering up at the person before looking around for ‘her Roy’. He’d stood just out of sight of the door to watch the two females:

Upon first being confronted with the small child, it was clear Hawkeye hadn’t been sure how to handle her. “Hello…”

“You brought Roy?” The inquiry had cut across any questions that the dark-eyed woman might have had, wide eyes searching in a somewhat futile fashion. “Where is he? You never come when he’s not with you…”

Crouching down with a small frown, the woman had rested her hands on the girl’s shoulders, looking into her face. “He never came here yesterday?”

“Nuh uh, he doesn’t come until _tommorow_.” A soft giggle followed the words, and the girl shook her head. “Is he coming today?” Nina had practically bounced on her heels, overexcited by the idea. “Is he? Is he?” 

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. Now, you go on inside, and don’t answer the door anymore, your dad should be doing that. Is he around?”

“No. Daddy’s studying again. He’ll be grouchy if I bug him again.” 

“I suppose that’s fine, I’ll just have to try to talk to him later. Remember, don’t answer the door anymore.”

Giggling, Nina had just waved goodbye after her as she walked off, apparently getting over her disappointment with how silly she perceived the blond woman to have been acting. “Bye bird lady!” Then she’d closed the front door and returned to her coloring. The elder Tucker had made sure to lock the bolt once she’d left the room. 

Shou always had been aware of his daughter’s fondness for the man, thus part of why he hadn’t permitted the man to leave. He had to be careful how he presented the situation though, so that his baby girl wouldn’t run around telling people. He’d have to present it as a special secret so that she would do her best to keep it to herself.

In a way, it was better that his little girl was home schooled. She only knew things that were worth knowing, and she didn’t deal with other brats that could influence her in ways he wouldn’t approve of. Fortunately, that also meant that she had nobody to tell the secret to anyway, which was all for the better in his mind. She was a good girl, and even if she kept trying to send things to her mother, that only proved that she had a lot of love to give.

She’d adore what he’d done for her once she realized that that meant that the fox she’d gotten so fond of and Mustang wouldn’t be leaving again. Such a good child.

“Nina, could you come over here for a minute? I have something for you.”

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

At first, he’d been unable to sleep again. Roy was sure that the reaction was due in part to the fact that he had to see what had been done to him, and honestly didn't want to. He’d feared running his too shaky hands over his face to see what had been changed, only braving going so far as flexing his muscles. He could tell that his ears could twitch slightly out of place both forward and to the side, but weren’t flexible enough to do more. Wiggling his toes had made him worry, since the sensation had felt very strange compared to how it once did. He even established he had a tail, though it seemed it couldn’t be too long since the appendage only just could curve over his hip. 

He’d finally slept though, uncomfortable and horribly uneasy in his cage in the dark, nightmares different from those that had plagued him since Ishbal. Instead, they were animal dreams. He was woken by a fox’s sort of caution, but with his own intellect behind it. 

He’d hoped that light, when it came, would bring an end to the nightmare, since only dreams were in black and white.

There was no color.


	4. Chapter 3

Shou took a deep breath, smiling at his little girl as he crouched down next to her outside the door. “Now remember Nina. You must be very careful. You wouldn’t want to mess up the surprise now would we?”

She nodded quickly, small hands clasped eagerly together. She knew it had to be a pet of some kind, but she didn’t tell her daddy that. After he’d made Alexander stay upstairs, she’d known that it had to be something really, really special. “I will daddy, promise!”

“That’s my girl.” He made it a practice to never let her into his lab, and that he was letting her in now meant that he was trusting her to be a big girl about things. It was time she started learning proper alchemy anyway.

Nina’s eyes adjusted more quickly than her father’s, and a little gasp was heard as she inched into the room. “Daddy? Daddy what is it…?” She couldn’t pry her eyes away from the crouched figure in the cage, cautious steps taking her closer.

He was worried about that. Sometimes her mind could be almost too quick for someone so young. Other times she worried him by asking such plainly obvious questions. Quick steps brought him up behind her and he rested his hands on her shoulders. “You remember how I make chimera?” 

Roy’s gold tinted eyes narrowed, though his exact expression was hard to tell, dark, near black fur feathered almost delicately over his face. Only the white that started at his chin and went down his throat broke up the dark coloring, even his whiskers, which were currently laid flat in a subconscious show of agitation, were a dark ebony and thus didn’t show well in the dark of the room. He didn’t say a word, instead refusing to look at Nina as his gaze dared Tucker to come up with a convincing lie.

“But daddy, he doesn’t look like the other ones you showed me before…”

When she finished speaking, he continued his explanation. “I know. I used that fox you liked so much to make this one last night. I was trying something new. I wanted to see how close to human looking I could get it.” His lips twisted a little as he heard the tiniest of growls from within the cage. “Maybe if we’re lucky, he can talk too. Now, don’t be afraid, just be careful and go say hello, okay sweetie?” 

Nina frowned a bit, shooting her father a decidedly uncertain look. After a moment, she glanced back, taking a deep breath as she resumed her slow steps toward the cage. She knew her daddy was leaving something out. Since she was at the cage, she decided not to say anything yet. The almost gold eyes had transferred their attention to her. He wasn’t even glaring anymore or anything, and that had to be a good sign. “Hi there. Remember me?” Another step, and she was close enough to reach a hand through the bars of the cage, which she did, tentatively running her fingers across his forehead.

Every last twitch stilled at the touch. Oddly, the fox side didn’t put up a fight at the contact, since the scent was familiar to the girl that had been feeding it and making sure that it didn’t hurt very much. That, and the cautious petting felt rather nice. Dark lined eyes half closed, and he found himself leaning into the touch before he could stop himself, an affirmative hum coming from his throat in answer to her question.

Seeing that the young man wasn’t going to do anything to harm his daughter, Tucker moved back, having no urge to get within range of the wicked claws that he knew the man had. “Nina, remember what you promised me before we came down here.” The attention of the chimera slid to the pale alchemist, eyes refocusing on him without dislodging the touch of the girl. “If you can keep that promise, then it would be alright for you to come visit him whenever you like.”

“But Daddy-”

“No Nina, you can’t tell. Promise me.” He carefully ignored the growl from the cage. The creature would just have to get used to him, because he wouldn’t be leaving the premises anytime soon.

A small sigh crossed her lips, and she scuffed her feet. “Alright, I promise. He doesn’t have to stay down here does he?”

“No sweetie. As soon as I know that he won’t run away, I’ll let him out of the cage, okay?” He ruffled the girl’s hair, eyes taking a last sweep of the room before he headed back to the stairs. “Come up when you’re done, and tell me so I can lock the door.”

“Yes, daddy.” She waited until she heard the door close before looking back to the chimera, the smile dropping away as she turned sad eyes on the caged being. “It’s very cold down here. I’m going to get you a blanket, okay? And some fruit too, I guess you must be hungry, since daddy was so busy he’s been in the library all day.”

She waited until she got a slow nod, the chimera plainly uneasy with the idea of communicating. He wouldn’t meet her eyes either, unlike either of the parts that he resembled would have. That only made her sadder, and she scratched behind a black tipped ear before drawing her hand back, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Don’t worry Uncle Roy, I still love you. I’ll be right back!”

The Flame Alchemist could do nothing but watch with stunned eyes as the child turned and hurried out of the room, obviously intent on her self-appointed errands. 

He discovered then that he no longer had the ability to cry.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another story I had high hopes for, and if ever continued, I planned to have Maes eventually figure out where Roy ended up and try to do something about it.

It was intriguing to watch them together. Of course, that wasn’t a change from how it had been when the man had still been human, but it was even more so now, with those reflective animal eyes and cautious claws. He always had known his little girl was a wonder with animals, but the way she tamed his newest creation to her hand made him smile. 

He really needed to do the same. 

“Nina, it’s time to go to bed now.” When she moved away from the cage a bit to give him a slightly pleading look, he shook his head, kneeling to open his arms to her. “No, don’t even ask. Bedtime. Daddy needs his lab.” 

Giving the chimera a last sad look, she sighed and moved into reach to get picked up. “G’night! I’ll bring breakfast in the morning!”

There wasn’t any answer but a small wave and a sigh before the two departed the room. Shou could only frown over the fact that his creation refused to speak in his presence.

-o-o-o-o-o-

He was starting to wonder just how long he was going to be kept in a cage. Over the last days, weeks possibly, he’d learned the many changes of his form. There was nowhere without fur, his modestly only maintained due to it and a strange, completely inhuman and un-fox-like, pouch to hide his groin. It was disturbing, but he’d quickly decided it was better than having his unmentionables hanging out around a little girl. Since it quickly became clear that he would only have what she gave him, and clothes weren’t among that short list of items, he decided to be grateful for the one small mercy. 

Crouching was his preferred mode of sitting, the tail making it vaguely unsettling to actually put all his weight on his backside. He hadn’t had the chance to stand, but he wasn’t sure it would turn out particularly pretty once he saw the hack job that was his body from the knee down. His back feet were more like paws, resulting in his current position; on his toes with a hand on the floor between his knees for balance.

It was incredibly comfortable.

That did not, however, mean that a growl didn’t immediately start in his throat as soon as he saw the alchemist that had done this to him. Usually, the man left him alone, watching him curiously when Nina was in the room or ignoring him entirely in favor of his papers. He hadn’t bothered him at all in at least a few days, and Roy could only presume that he’d gained whatever notes on his form he might have needed when he’d been unconscious directly after the transmutation.

-o-o-o-o-o-

“Now now, what sort of greeting is that for me? Have you given up all pretenses of politeness Roy?” The pale man moved closer, ignoring the narrowed gaze, the fierce noise being leveled in his direction, and simply walked to just outside a proper attack range for the chimera. “I had rather hoped you wouldn’t be like this. I can’t properly study my results if you remain so hostile, and I don’t want to have to take any chemical measures.”

The sound cut off briefly, canine eyes widening at the threat before the younger man retreated to the back of his cage in stubborn silence, tucking the blanket he’d been allowed around his shoulders in pointed apathy.

“I assure you that I will not use them if you simply cooperate. I need to see what has changed and if this confinement has caused any damage to this new form. Some chimeras have muscle problems after the first week or so when forced into smaller quarters than their forms are meant for. I’m simply concerned that you will become such a case due to my neglect while dealing with other projects.” Not that any other project was more important, but he’d needed to deal with his superior officer, to start through the delicate proceedings involving the renewal of his title, and it had commanded a good portion of his attention.

Roy, the stubborn thing, seemed to make his point with silence, fur bristled in obvious annoyance, and one pointed ear twitched more in his direction as the man looked off to the side as though ignoring him. 

He never failed to be fascinated by the obvious physical differences, down to even mannerisms, that occurred in chimera. This time was no exception. “This would all be much simpler if you would just be willing to speak to me. I know you’ve spoken with Nina on more than one occasion, when I wasn’t in the room.” He slipped closer to the cage, leaning to look inside. “She was rather disappointed you did not say good night. In fact, she was wondering if you were angry with her.”

When that gained the man’s attention, he didn’t try to hide the smile that crossed his face, and was unaware of the slightly disturbing picture it made. When the chimera narrowed his eyes at him, it didn’t slip.

“No tricks. Now, are you going to speak with me and cooperate, or am I going to have to resort to study damaging drugs to finally resume my notes?” 

There was nothing but a dark glower as a reply, but Shou found himself only mildly disappointed. Just because it made his studies more difficult didn’t mean that there weren’t any benefits an unconscious state could provide.


End file.
